Pneumatically operated disc brakes for heavy road vehicles, such as buses, trucks and trailers, have become more customary during recent years. It has appeared that the tough requirements on such brakes have led to designs that differ rather drastically from disc brake designs used for lighter vehicles and most often hydraulically operated.
The development at the present time is towards more use of electric equipment and electric control for more and more functions on the vehicles and system integration in the vehicles in order to achieve enhanced performance, for example dynamic stability control, rollover protection, and collision avoidance.
Also, by the use of electric power it is possible to dispense with air tanks and similar equipment.
It is thus quite natural that the possibility to use electric power also for braking a heavy road vehicle provided with brake discs is being discussed.
The object of the invention is to provide a disc brake for a heavy road vehicle, where electric power can be used, the disc brake fulfilling all requirements with regard to brake force, controllability, reliability, volume, price, and so forth.